News & Commentary

The ACLU today announced the settlement of a lawsuit it had filed in June against the City of Cranston on behalf of a resident who challenged the refusal of the police department to return to him a variety of lawfully possessed weapons that had been seized from him over a year ago. The lawsuit, filed by RI ACLU volunteer attorney Thomas W. Lyons on behalf of Robert Machado, argued that the Cranston Police Department had violated his right to due process and his right to keep and bear arms by retaining his property without just cause. Under the settlement, the City agreed to return the weapons to Machado in the same condition as they were when they were seized, or to reimburse him for the cost of repairing and replacing any weapons damaged or not returned. The City also agreed to pay Machado $2,500 in damages as well as $2,000 in attorneys’ fees. In September of last year, police and fire paramedics came to Machado’s house after receiving a call from a friend of his that he might be suicidal. Machado told the police that his friend had misconstrued a conversation they had had, but he agreed to be transported to the hospital for a mental health evaluation. The examination found no problems and he was promptly released from the hospital. Unbeknownst to Machado, however, police in the meantime seized for “safe keeping” from his home various weapons he lawfully possessed, including firearms and a collection of ceremonial samurai swords. Eager to have his possessions returned, Machado followed up by obtaining a letter from his psychotherapist that he had never “demonstrated suicidal tendencies or thoughts,” and “there should be no concern” returning his weapons. The police still refused to release them and advised Machado that he would need to obtain a court order to get them back. After further unsuccessful efforts to get his items returned, Machado contacted the ACLU, leading to the lawsuit which had challenged the police department’s practices on constitutional grounds. ACLU attorney Lyons said today, “We were very happy to have gotten a relatively quick and favorable result for Mr. Machado. However, the resolution of this case does not address whether there are any circumstances under which police departments may legally cease and retain weapons held by law-abiding citizens. That issue may have to be resolved in another case.”

JoAnne Leppanen, Executive Director, Rhode Island Patient Advocacy Coalition: “Many patients who are applying to the Rhode Island medical marijuana program for the first time are experiencing a new hurdle that is delaying their admission to the program and forcing them to see more doctors and pay additional fees. Some patients and their caregivers who need to renew their licenses are in a panic as they scramble to form relationships with new physicians before their licenses expire and their legal protections evaporate. The patients who qualify for the medical marijuana program are among the sickest and most vulnerable of our citizens. Medical marijuana is vital medicine for their health. The Health Department's arbitrary and sudden reversal of policy has wreaked havoc on the health of some of our most fragile citizens.”

2005: The R.I. Department of Health (DOH) testifies before legislative committees against passage of a medical marijuana bill. The General Assembly nonetheless approves the bill. The legislation, which contains a two-year sunset provision, is vetoed by Governor Donald Carcieri, but the General Assembly overrides the veto.

The Rhode Island ACLU has filed a lawsuit in Superior Court against the state Department of Health (DOH) for making it more difficult for patients with debilitating medical conditions to participate in the state’s medical marijuana program. The suit, filed by RI ACLU volunteer attorney John Dineen, was brought on behalf of the Rhode Island Patient Advocacy Coalition, the Rhode Island Academy of Physician Assistants, and an individual whose application to participate in the medical marijuana program was denied by the DOH under the new policy.

The Rhode Island ACLU has today filed a “friend of the court” brief in the U.S. Supreme Court, supporting Governor Lincoln Chafee’s legal appeal seeking to prevent the surrender of murder suspect Jason Wayne Pleau to federal authorities to face a potential death penalty.

The Narragansett Town Council has tentatively agreed to resolve a lawsuit filed by the ACLU in April on behalf of three URI pharmacy graduate students who received tickets for parking their cars overnight on their street even though they had a permit to do so.

At a court hearing today on the ACLU’s request for a preliminary injunction, the state and the Providence Police Department have agreed not to arrest and/or prosecute the plaintiffs in an ACLU lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a state law that makes it a felony for any person required to register as a sex offender to reside within 300 feet of any school. Across the country, experts involved in the treatment of sex offenders, as well as victims’ rights groups, have opposed sex offender residency laws as being ineffective, counter-productive, and potentially more, rather than less, harmful to public safety. The three plaintiffs face potential homelessness if the law is enforced against them. Two of them have development disabilities and are living in Warren Manor, an assisted living facility in Providence operated by NRI Community Services, a provider of mental health and substance abuse treatment. They are not even subject to community notification requirements. RI ACLU volunteer attorney Kate Godin said today: “I am very pleased that, at least for the foreseeable future, our clients will not face any action that could lead to homelessness or their reinstitutionalization. We remain prepared to take further action if any other offenders are similarly threatened with arrest under the statute while this lawsuit is pending.” Among the groups that have publicly raised concerns locally about broad sex offender residency laws are the RI Disability Law Center, the RI Coalition for the Homeless, and Day One Rhode Island. A year before the Rhode Island law was enacted, the Rhode Island Sex Offender Management Task Force prepared a draft statement on residency restrictions that noted that “research shows that sex offenders with residential and family stability (which can be disrupted by such restrictions) are less likely to commit new sex offenses.” Even though the plaintiffs have been in their residences for some time with the full knowledge of probation and police officials, the Providence Police Department notified them last month that if they did not move out within 30 days, they risked being arrested under the statute. At the time the suit was filed, Chris Stephens, the President/CEO of NRI Community Services noted that some of the residents at Warren Manor were placed there by the state probation and parole office, and that “subjecting them to arrest and eviction is not only contrary to their medical needs and increases their risk of  homelessness, but it categorically does nothing to make the community safer.” Judge Sarah Taft-Carter ordered briefs to be filed in the case by August17th.

The Rhode Island ACLU today filed a lawsuit in R.I. Superior Court challenging the constitutionality of a state law that makes it a felony for any person required to register as a sex offender to reside within 300 feet of any school. Across the country, experts involved in the treatment of sex offenders, as well as victims’ rights groups, have opposed sex offender residency laws as being ineffective, counter-productive, and potentially more, rather than less, harmful to public safety. The lawsuit, filed by ACLU volunteer attorney Katherine Godin, is on behalf of three plaintiffs who face potential homelessness if the law is enforced against them.

The RI ACLU said today it was “extremely disheartened” by today’s 3-2 decision, issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, overturning Governor Lincoln Chafee’s efforts to prevent the institution of federal death penalty charges against Jason Wayne Pleau. The ACLU had filed a “friend of the court” brief in support of the Governor’s position.